Robbery suspect to face Northampton court action

Plainfield man said to be bank bandit who spoke with British accent.

April 30, 2008|By Joe McDonald Of The Morning Call

A bundle of court cases lodged against John Snuggs, the suspected British-accented robber from Plainfield Township, was sent to Northampton County Court on Tuesday, just one week after a federal grand jury indicted him in connection with a string of robberies in the Poconos.

There could be even more charges. Snuggs is a suspect in two other bank robberies in Monroe County, said Lt. Brian Kimmins of the Stroud Area Regional Police.

Kimmins said a detective in his department is working with an FBI agent to find the masked man who robbed the M&T Bank at N. Ninth and Ehler streets, Stroud Township, twice in three months.

"We're looking at him as a person of interest," Kimmins said Tuesday, shortly after Snuggs waived his preliminary hearing in Wind Gap on charges he robbed seven convenience stores and three banks and tried to rob a gas station.

Authorities said he took as little as $62 from the Turkey Hill Minit Market in Pen Argyl to as much as $18,155 from Pocono Community Bank, Route 209, Brodheadsville. The 15 robberies in two counties in Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey netted more than $56,800 over 51/2 months from Sept. 29, 2007, to March 17, police said.

In court papers filed in Northampton County, state police said Snuggs confessed to all of the robberies and provided details of each. That kind of cooperation has not been given Stroud Area police, Kimmins said.

"He won't talk to us," Kimmins said. "He lawyered up."

Snuggs, 41, of 954 Engler Road, who over the years has been a truck driver, an emergency medical technician and a candidate for Wind Gap council, was sent back to Northampton County Prison under $750,000 bail Tuesday after waiving his preliminary hearing.

Snuggs was arrested last month by a Wind Gap police officer who noticed someone had smashed the front glass door of the Square One Shell convenience store about 1:30 a.m. March 20.

Snuggs was indicted in federal court in Scranton on April 22 on charges he robbed a bank and the same Wawa convenience store in Brodheadsville three times in about two weeks, pocketing $400.

At the first Wawa holdup Oct. 11, 2007, Snuggs allegedly flashed a knife at a clerk and stole $77, the indictment states.

Five days later on Oct. 16, the indictment states, Snuggs returned with his right hand in his jacket pocket and threatened a "bloodbath" before leaving with about $50-$80.

On Oct. 24, the indictment states, he returned with an "apparent concealed weapon in his jacket" and threatened to "start firing" and left with $245.

The Jan. 23 robbery at Pocono Community Bank, Route 209, Brodheadsville, netted more than $18,155, according to the indictment, which indicates Snuggs used a gun.

The indictment alleges the robberies obstructed or delayed commerce in violation of federal law. His initial court appearance on the federal charges is scheduled May 13 in Wilkes-Barre.

During some of the holdups in Northampton County, Snuggs gave store clerks orders in what sounded like a British accent, according to the affidavit.